Narnia in the Bible

[Cleander]

Hi everyone, I realize that many of us who read and love Narnia also read and love the Bible. (The main distinction between the two being that one is believed to be the inspired Word of God). C.S. Lewis was a student of old myths and legends, as well as of the Bible; both would serve as inspirations for Narnia books. Lewis worked in subtle elements from both into the Narnia tales. The biblical origins are sometimes easy to see, and other times... you just get a vague feeling that there's SOMETHING bible-inspired in the Narnia story you're reading (or maybe even something Narnian in the Bible passage you're reading ). I'm not just referencing the symbolism in the stories (that's a whole different topic); I'm talking about when part of a Narnia story seems to actually resemble a certain Bible verse! Here's a good example: "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not faint."- Isaiah 40:31
Sound just a tad like the scene in Aslan's country in The Last Battle, anyone?
Here's one that's a little less direct, but still pretty cool for its strange resemblance to a certain scene in the Silver Chair:
" Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment, and a babbler (aka Rilian) is no better."- Ecclesiastes 10:11
See what I mean?
What kind of Bible/Narnia parallels can you think of? (It's Ok to take verses a little out of context here if you think it works. I just wouldn't advise you to do that when trying to determine what you believe. )

[Col Klink]

When I read The Magician's Nephew for the first time, the part about Frank not wanting to be king without his wife reminded me of this part of the book of Genesis.

18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

King Frank and Queen Helen are explicitly compared to Adam and Eve in the Last Battle. To be honest though, I feel like some people have exaggerated the connections between the Narnia books and the Bible. There are definitely Christian themes in the books but they aren't whole plot references to the Bible. Attempts to match up each main character with a biblical figure don't stand up to much scrutiny in my experience.

(I'm not saying this thread is bad. I just wanted to express that opinion in case people don't remember my expressing it on the old forum.)

[Cleander]

King Frank and Queen Helen are explicitly compared to Adam and Eve in the Last Battle. To be honest though, I feel like some people have exaggerated the connections between the Narnia books and the Bible. There are definitely Christian themes in the books but they aren't whole plot references to the Bible. Attempts to match up each main character with a biblical figure don't stand up to much scrutiny in my experience.

(I'm not saying this thread is bad. I just wanted to express that opinion in case people don't remember my expressing it on the old forum.)

Actually I agree with you there, Col Klink. There is a tendency to assume that everything in Narnia represents something- but if we go down that road we'll soon be asking what the significance of all Dwarfs having a smoking habit is. These stories, as is probably so often pointed out, are meant to be supposals- not everything has a Biblical parallel.
This thread is just about finding verses in the Bible that remind us of Narnia- I'm not saying that all of the Narnia-to-Bible similarities that we discover as people continue to post will be significant parallels.

[coracle]

I agree too.
I find it hard to understand why some people insist on drawing a parallel between every person and event of Narnia and something in the Bible.
The Narnia stories are not the Bible - people and events do often remind us of things in the Bible but they are NOT those things, nor do they represent them.
The Narnia books are not allegorical in any way. The writer said so.

[Stylteralmaldo]

Well, CS Lewis was a Christian so to say there aren’t parallels would be false in my opinion. Obviously King Frank isn’t Adam. However, it does appear Aslan is pretty close to being Jesus. I mean, Aslan transforms into a lamb in one of the stories. It doesn’t get much more obvious than that.

It’s hard to escape who you are in your writing. Lewis was a Christian. His Christianity is going to come out in his writing. Whether King Frank was deliberately meant to be Adam or not really isn’t the point. Adam comes out through his writing through the character of King Frank.

[Cleander]

So now that we've clarified about the Narnia-Bible parallels, here's another one I thought of:
"His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.’' (Mark 25:21)
Compare this to the Horse and His Boy, where it says that Shasta didn't know that the reward for one good deed is often to tasked with a harder and better one.
Now, THAT'S probably a valid parallel.

[Sir Edmond the just]

In the Dawn Treader there is a story in the Magician's book that i believe to refer to Jesus (his last days before getting crucified and then coming back to life three days later).

"It was about a cup and sword and a tree and a green hill, i know that much."
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, chapter 10.

1. I believe the cup meant the cup at the last supper.
2. The sword represented the Romans.
3. And the tree and green hill is where Jesus got crucified.

That is one that i thought of.

[Cleander]

Yes! Yes! I always like to speculate about that story and I think that is the best explanation I've heard so far. And Aslan tells Lucy that he'll tell the story for years to come- which reminds me of the fact that Christians always learn more about the gospel as they dig deeper into Scripture. It is a story that they are always told every time they read the Bible.
Great thought, bro!

[coracle]

That's a good example of different ways to look at things in the Narnia stories.

Since the books are NOT allegorical, we cannot say that anything actually represents anything from the Bible.
However, these items from the Refreshing Story in Coriakin's book of spells DO remind us of the gospel, and of Jesus' life.
Many things in the Narnia stories remind us, or help us draw parallels, with things in the Bible. And yes, these are entirely due to Lewis's Christian world view (and his love for the Bible).

[DiGoRyKiRkE]

I'd read somewhere that Lewis based it loosely off of one of his favourite hymns.

There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall
Where our dear Lord was crucified;
Who died to save us all.
We may not know, We cannot tell,
What pains he had to bear,
But we believe it was for us;
He hung and suffered there.
He died that we might be forg'ven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to hea'en;
Save by his precious blood.
There was no other good enough,
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate,
Of hea'en and let us in.
Ohh dearly dearly has he loved,
And we must love him too;
And trust in his redeeming blood,
And try his work to do.

[King_Erlian]

Could the sword refer to the sword Peter (Jesus' disciple, not Peter Pevensie) used to cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest?

[Sir Edmond the just]

Could the sword refer to the sword Peter (Jesus' disciple, not Peter Pevensie) used to cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest?

That is another good way to think of it.


One more thing that i thought of is this

1.The cup could mean wine at the pevensie's Crowning.(LWW CP 17)
2. I believe the sword represented the battle of Beruna
3.The tree and hill i would say is Cair Paravel, Cair Paravel was on a hill and perhaps the tree was the apple trees that they planted.